:INFO
Open Source SaaS Business
Running a business on an open source product combines community-driven growth with commercial monetization. The open core model offers a self-hosted free tier and a managed cloud tier with additional features and support.


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1,000 GitHub Stars
|
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10x Users

:PATH
Open Source Phase
Design the core product as fully open source under a permissive or source available license. Make self-hosting straightforward with a single-command Docker setup.

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Community Phase
Invest in documentation, issue response time, and contributor experience. Community health drives organic discovery more than any paid channel.

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Monetize Phase
Offer a managed cloud tier with convenience and compliance features. Add enterprise support contracts and SSO as gated paid features.

:CHECKLIST
Open Source SaaS Checklist
[ ] Choose license: MIT, Apache, AGPL, or SSPL
[ ] Write clear README with quickstart guide
[ ] Set up Docker Compose for self-hosting
[ ] Create public roadmap and issue labels
[ ] Define the open core boundary: what is free, what is paid
[ ] Launch on Hacker News Show HN and GitHub Trending
[ ] Set up cloud tier infrastructure
[ ] Create pricing page with clear tier comparison
[ ] Respond to every GitHub issue within 48 hours

:NOTE
The open source project is a marketing channel as much as a product. Treat the developer experience of your self-hosted version as seriously as your cloud product. Bad self-hosting documentation kills community trust.


:LINK
https://posthog.com/blog/open-source-saas
PostHog on building an open source SaaS business